Conjugating regular -ER verbs
French verbs come in three families based on the infinitive ending: -er, -ir, -re. By far the biggest is -er — about 90% of French verbs end this way, and almost all of them follow one tidy pattern. Today: parler (to speak), aimer (to like), habiter (to live), travailler (to work), manger (to eat). Once you've got the rhythm — -e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent — you can conjugate hundreds of verbs you've never seen.
Take the stem, add the ending
Drop -er from the infinitive: parler → stem parl-. Add the ending for the person: je parle, tu parles, il parle, nous parlons, vous parlez, ils parlent. Notice that je parle, tu parles, il parle, and ils parlent all sound exactly the same in speech — only nous parlons (par-LOHN) and vous parlez (par-LAY) sound different. Four out of six forms are pronounced identically; the spelling carries the work.
The full pattern
je → -e: j'aime, je travaille. tu → -es: tu aimes, tu travailles. il/elle/on → -e: elle aime, on travaille. nous → -ons: nous aimons, nous travaillons. vous → -ez: vous aimez, vous travaillez. ils/elles → -ent (silent): ils aiment, elles travaillent. The -ent is the trap — three letters that aren't pronounced at all. ils parlent sounds just like il parle.
One form covers many meanings
Je parle français can mean 'I speak French' (I'm able to), 'I'm speaking French' (right now), or 'I usually speak French' (a habit). French uses one present-tense form where English splits these out. Time markers like maintenant (now) or toujours (always) clarify when needed: Je parle français maintenant = I'm speaking French right now.
Spelling tweak: -ger and -cer verbs
Verbs ending in -ger (like manger) keep the soft 'g' sound by inserting an e in the nous form: nous mangeons (mahn-ZHOHN), not mangons. Without the e, the g would be hard. Verbs ending in -cer add a cedilla in the same spot: commencer (to start) → nous commençons. Otherwise, both verb types are perfectly regular. Other verbs you may meet: voyager (to travel) → nous voyageons, nager (to swim) → nous nageons.
Negation and questions reuse what you know
Everything from lessons 7 and 8 still works. Negation: je ne parle pas espagnol (I don't speak Spanish), elle n'aime pas le café (she doesn't like coffee). Questions: Tu parles français? (intonation), Est-ce que tu travailles? (est-ce que), Parles-tu français? (inversion). For the article-after-aimer pattern: French keeps the definite article when you 'like' something in general — j'aime le café (I like coffee, in general). With the indefinite, j'aime un café le matin would be unusual; for general likes, stick with le/la/les.
